


If I Lose Myself

by dragonslastarc



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alvez and Savannah are bff 5 ever, Emotional Constipation, F/M, Garcia is precious, Kidnapping, Morgan and Garcia are ignorant of this, Roxy is a good girl, Stalking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25161820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonslastarc/pseuds/dragonslastarc
Summary: Garcia is absolutely a creature of habit.  Immediately after meeting a certain precious puppy her habit comes to include weekly play dates with Roxy (and Alvez of course).  So when she breaks that habit and fails to meet at the usual time, everyone is understandably worried.  The team is left scrambling to find Garcia before anything happens.  But Luke begins to wonder if his heart can handle the fact that their search raises more questions than answers and he worries that he might have lost the chance to ever tell Garcia how he feels.
Relationships: Luke Alvez/Penelope Garcia
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	If I Lose Myself

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Madibownn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madibownn/gifts).



> I'm back after a very long time and in an entirely different fandom! It feels good to be writing again, lemme tell ya. Madi, my dear, thank you for being so supportive and patient with me constantly bouncing endless dumb ideas off of you. This is for you!

With each passing minute, Alvez’s worry grew deeper. After months of meeting at the same park at the same time on the same day of the week, provided both were in town and not on a case that is, confirmation was no longer needed.

Or so he thought.

But here he was, two hours after the appointed meeting time and no word. Not a single call or text indicating why he was still waiting.

Beside him, Roxy perked up and her tail gave a half hopeful wag as she stared toward the parking lot. But no, it wasn’t the car she was waiting for and she lowered her head despondently once again.

It broke his heart to see his companion so disappointed. And it made him anxious that the woman who looked forward to these days even more than his dog was late without explanation.

He pulled out his phone again and sighed when he saw no new text. Frustrated and worried, he sent off a quick text.

Garcia where are you? You’re breaking Roxy’s heart leaving her hanging like this.

After ten minutes with absolutely no response, he finally gave in and actually called her. To his amazement it went directly to voicemail. Penelope Garcia never left calls unanswered and she certainly never turned her phone off.

The worry gripped his heart so tightly he could hardly breathe. His hands shook as he called his other colleagues.

Prentiss was the first to answer.

“Alvez? What’s up?”

Luke dropped his head into his hand and sighed. “I’d rather wait until everyone answers and explain it all at once.”

“I see.” It took all of fifteen seconds for everyone to join the call. “Ok, Alvez. What’s going on?”

“Garcia’s missing.”

“How long?” JJ demanded. He appreciated their belief in him.

“I’m not sure. We’ve been meeting every weekend for her to have a stress relief play date with Roxy. The only time we haven’t met up was if we had a case. In nine months she has never been late without a call or text. Never. And the one time she didn’t come was that weekend she was so sick she couldn’t sit up without puking. She’s two hours late, hasn’t answered my text and when I called her it went directly to voicemail.”

The silence on the phone was deafening and while it validated his worry, it did nothing to ease it.

“Ok, Alvez,” Prentiss started in her unit chief voice, “I want you to meet me at the BAU. I’m pulling Kevin in to see if we can track her. Is there anywhere else she might be aside from home?”

“She always stops at that coffee shop by her place to get something for herself and Roxy,” Luke offered.

“Ok, Tara, Matt, I want you two to check it out, see if anyone’s seen her today. JJ and Spencer, go to her apartment and see if she’s there.”

“I’ll call Morgan,” Rossi offered. “Someone needs to let him know what’s happening and keep him updated.”

“Good. After that, I want you to meet me and Alvez at the BAU. Until we know otherwise, we’re treating this as a kidnapping. Garcia would never leave a call or text unanswered. Who was the last one to speak to her?”

“I think that was me,” JJ said. “I called to ask if she wanted to go out for drinks tonight and she said she had a standing date. I guess that was with Roxy and Luke.”

“Which means she had every intention of showing up. Ok, let’s get to this and find Garcia.”

Everyone hung up and Luke took a shaky breath. Roxy bounded to her feet when Luke stood from the bench. “Come on, Rox, we’ve got to find our favorite girl.”

The entire drive in was a daze and as he parked, Luke was startled to realize he had no memory of the trip. He cursed softly for putting himself and his precious dog in danger by driving while compromised. But there was no undoing it, so he steeled himself and entered the building.

Prentiss was already there. She took a single look at him and sighed. “You ok?”

“Honestly? No. And I won’t be until we find her.” He stared at her, daring her to call him out for his unprofessional behavior.

“Easy, Luke. I’m worried about her, too. I mean obviously for different reasons, but.” She sighed again. “She’s been one of my best friends for over a decade. Even if this turns out to be a big mistake or a miscommunication, I’m really glad you reached out to us.”

His throat felt tight so he just nodded in response and buried a hand in Roxy’s fur for comfort.

“Kevin is on his way in. He’ll be the best to help track her.” Movement behind Luke caught Emily’s attention and she nodded toward the elevator. Rossi was talking on the phone with a grim expression. As he pushed open the door the bullpen he hung up. “Morgan is almost here. I guess he was already pretty close by on a family outing.”

“Good,” Emily said. “He’ll be a big help.” Her phone rang and she answered immediately on speaker phone. “What’s up JJ? Anything at her apartment?”

“Nothing unusual. No signs of forced entry or foul play.”

Spencer chimed in. “We also asked her neighbors and they all said the same thing. She left at the same time she does nearly every Saturday, acting normal.”

“Ok. Head back here, we’ll wait for Matt and Tara to check in. Oh,” she said in surprise. “Matt’s calling now, I’ll patch him in. Anything, Matt?”

“We found her car.” It was odd feeling his entire world crumble around him at four simple words. Luke gripped Roxy’s fur in an attempt to ground himself.

“The key’s in the ignition and her purse and cell phone are on the passenger seat,” Tara reported. “The way the door wasn’t completely closed tells me that whoever took her was in a hurry.”

Matt continued. “We’re going to canvas the area, talk to the people in the coffee shop. Tracking her without her phone is going to make this difficult.”

“Kevin will be here in a few minutes. I’ll have him start with the security cameras in the area. See if any of the traffic cameras caught the abduction.”

“Ok. We’ll check in again before we head back,” Matt said and hung up.

The elevator opened and Kevin hurried out followed closely by Morgan and Savannah. The second the door was open, Emily guided Kevin back out and toward Garcia’s office.

“What do we know?” Morgan asked firmly. He was immediately derailed from his righteous fury when Savannah shoved past him and bolted toward Luke.

“Cariña,” Luke managed in a voice that he would absolutely never admit was a whimper.

“It’s ok, baby,” Savannah murmured as she drew him into her arms. “I got you. We are going to find her, I promise.”

Luke clung to Savannah and all at once, with his best friend’s arms around him, he crumbled and barely hid his face before the tears began to fall.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel so bad for leaving it at such a cliffhanger, but damn it was a good place to leave it. Expect sporadic updates, but so long as Madi keeps pestering me, I think you probably won't be waiting too long for more of this. Bless your darling hearts and much love to you all! (also bonus virtual hugs to whoever can figure out where the really dumb chapter title came from)


End file.
